Chapter 2

I watched my sister as she ignored another call from our father. Her leg was bouncing nervously and I could hear her heart beating a mile a minute. I wasn't really sure why she was avoiding his calls, but every time his face popped up on her screen and the English national anthem began to play, she would close her phone and bounce her leg until she was sure that the answering machine picked up. This had been going on for a week now, and although I was tempted to ask, I don't think I really wanted to know the answer.

It was a cool Friday afternoon. Emi had just picked me up from school and we were sprawled out on the living room couch attempting to figure out what we wanted to do with the rest of our day. Mom was going to be working late, and she had left us with forty dollars to 'have fun'. So far the only fun thing we managed to do was go under the speed limit the whole way home.

"I think we should go to the mall."

"There's no malls close to here."

"Thrift shopping?"

"Maybe."

"How about the movies?" I saw my sister think for a moment then shrug her shoulders.

"What should we see?" It was my turn to shrug. I curled my feet out from under me and stood up to stretch. It was another rainy day and the weather was only getting colder. I knew how my sister felt about the rain, and I knew she would do anything if it meant staying dry.

"Horror?"

"Nah, the only new movie that's out is about a demon."

"Demons, gross." The two of us chuckled and Emi hopped off the couch.

"How about a romcom?" I thought for a moment then nodded my head.

"Sure, why not?" Emi walked across the living room and into the kitchen.I went back to my bedroom and grabbed my grey cardigan and black mary janes. I looked out of my window, my hands instinctively wrapping around my umbrella. My room was in the back of the house, so I had a nice view of the dense, foggy woods that surrounded our neighborhood.

"Come on Ellie." Emi was standing in the doorway, leaning against the white door frame. I grabbed the umbrella and followed her out to her silver camry. Sliding into the passenger side, Emi fiddled with the radio for a couple of minutes before settling on a classic rock station. I looked for showtime on her phone as we drove. It wasn't like there were five movie theaters we could go to at any moment of time. As I scrolled through showtimes, the phone began to ring that all too familiar tune, and dad's face popped up on the screen.

Emi's eyes shifted, and I heard her hold in her breath.

"Do you want me to answer it or…" I trailed off and she shook her head.

"I mean… You can, if you want. I'm driving, so I really shouldn't be on the phone…" Emi's voice was a little higher than usual, indicating that something was wrong.

"I don't have to answer."

"No, no, go ahead and answer, he probably wants to talk to you." I nodded my head and swiped at the screen.

'Hello poppet.' It had felt like forever since I had last heard my dad's voice. I couldn't help it as a smile broke across my cheeks.

"Hey daddy!" There was a happy gasp on the other end.

'Ellie, what a wonderful surprise. What are you doing on your sisters phone?' Emi's eyes kept flickering over to my face, most likely attempting to listen in on what dad was saying.

"She's driving, we're going to a movie!"

'A film? How nice. I'm happy that the two of you are adjusting so well.' If I wasn't mistaken, I thought I could hear a faint bitterness in his voice. However, when he spoke again, it was gone. 'I know you started school this week, how was it? I would have asked earlier, but your mother told me you were still grounded.'

"Yeah, apparently moving across the country doesn't negate past crimes." Dad laughed; it was such a light, almost delicate sound. Just another drastic difference between my mom and dad.

'Honestly, I'm sure your mother' the bitterness was back in his voice 'is just being as responsible… but enough about that; how was school dear?'

"Eh, it was boring. Everyone here is so lame."

'Of course, you are located in the middle of nowhere after all. How is your sister? I do believe she's been avoiding my calls.'

"Emi's fine, she's probably been stressed_"

'Hmm, I don't think that's it, poppet. I'm sure it has something to do with…' He trailed off, and my brows furrowed. Before I could open my mouth, Emi held out her hand and beckoned for me to place her phone back in her hand. As soon as I placed down the tiny black phone, she brought it to her ear.

"Hey dad, what's up?" She was silent as my dad spoke. He was speaking in an almost hushed tone, and I noticed Emi biting at her lower lip.

"Yes, I understand." She sighed, a frown etching itself into her face. "Yes dad, I will… Can we… pick this up later. I'm driving, and you know how I feel about being on the phone while I drive."

Dad spoke a few more words before I heard him tell her that he loved her and that he loved me too.

"By daddy." I heard the call disconnect and watched wide-eyed as she tossed her phone to the back seat.

"What the hell was that?" I snorted. Emi threw her hands up before slamming them back down on the steering wheel. She let out a short, agitated growl then huffed.

"I don't want to be in the middle of mom and dad's drama." I nodded my head and turned to look out of the window. This was exactly what I feared. Dad had been calling her to try and get information on mom. He meant well, but I knew it made Emi feel… Used.

"How long has he been doing this?"

"Pretty much since the day after we got here." I tried to focus on the wooded area that was a dark green blur outside of the car window.

"This sucks." I huffed and watched as my breath fogged up the window.

"Yup." We were silent for the rest of the ride, listening to radio fuzz in and out.

When we finally arrived at the theater, the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Emi sighed and turned off the car. She looked over at me and gave me a tight little smile.

"I know you don't really wanna talk about all of this, but…" She smacked her lips together and sighed "But I think we need to."

"C-Can we do this after the stupid movie?" I was playing with the tips of my hair, twirling it around my index finger. I tugged gently, my eyes focusing on my shoes.

"We have time before the movie Ellie. How about we just, you know, talk?" I looked over at my sister; her leg was bouncing nervously and she was gnawing at her bottom lip. Emi looked a lot like my dad; she was very thin and lean and her face was covered in freckles. Her features were delicate like his, but she had my mom's intense amber eyes.

"Talk about what?" I was grumbling

"Talk about anything, everything… Something. We were thrown into a crappy situation and just kinda expected to… Adjust. I-I'm angry" She paused when she said it, and my eyes snapped up to look at her. "I think I'm angry."

"It's okay to be angry." I whispered.

"Well if I'm angry, then you must be ready to explode."

"I'm not." My voice was much softer now, and it hardly sounded like me at all. I guess Emi could hear it too, because her brows furrowed and her eyes darkened. "I don't really feel anything. Like, it doesn't really seem…"

"Real." I nodded my head.

"That's why you don't wanna talk about it. If you talk about it_"

"Then it's real."

Emi nodded her head slowly, understanding. She reached out and gently patted my thigh. That was the thing about Emi, she always understood me, and she always listened. She beckoned for me to get out of the car and we made our way inside of the tiny theater. It was an older building covered in red velvet and smelled of old popcorn. It was cool, and I could hear Emi's teeth chattering faintly. I took off my cardigan and offered it to her, and she happily took it.

We got our tickets for the movie, still had a bit of time before the film actually showed. Emi walked up to the concession stand and began to order us our popcorn and soda, while I went back to the theater to get us our seats. The theater was empty when I walked in, so I made my way to the top row and settled down in the middle of the row.

As I sat in that theater and my eyes settled on the large, empty screen I thought about my dad. He was alone, in New York, in our family apartment. He was probably down in the bakery, humming to himself while he worked. If I was back home, I would probably be working in the front. I would be wearing that ridiculous frilly baby blue apron and I would be in a totally sour mood. Nevertheless, I would probably find a way to sneak into the kitchen and eat some of the macrons that were cooling, or lick some of the extra frosting off of the mixing bowls when I thought my dad wasn't looking; he'd see me of course, he always did, and he would gently chastise me and shoo me back out to the front. I let out a small scoff and rolled my eyes. I always used to whine and complain so much, but now I missed it.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of laughter at the bottom of the theater. It sounded like a man and a woman, and for some reason anxiety began to bubble up in my stomach. As the chatting became louder, I found myself shrinking away and staring intensely at my lap, hoping they didn't notice me. I had, over the course of this very testing first week of school, discovered that when people noticed me they often had a lot to say. I had been the topic of multiple negative talking points, and it had begun to weigh down on me heavily.

"Oh, there's already someone here!" The female voice was a light, but not pitchy. "And she's sitting in the best spot."

"Hmm, I guess we could just sit more towards the middle." The males voice was deep and from the chest. It was nice and smooth, and almost reminded me of warm honey.

"It's just a kid, can't you ask her to move?"

"I mean, can't we just_"

"Come on Gabriel." The girl was whining now, and I heard the man sigh. He walked up the steps and cleared his throat.

"Um, hey. Is there any way that you could…"

I looked at him, squinting my eyes and frowning. I crossed my arms and waited for him to continue. He was a large man, one of the biggest men I had ever seen. He was tall, way over six foot and muscular. He had sharp features, handsome, with inky black hair and striking green eyes. I guess he was on some sort of date, because he was dressed rather nicely, and the girl that was not too far behind him was wearing a short black dress and a pair of silver heels.

"If I could what?" He was just… Staring at me, his eyes slightly wide and his lips ever so parted. I saw his brows bunch up in confusion, and the anxiety that had been building intensified drastically.

"I was just, uh, wondering if my friend, girlfriend, and I would sit here…" I rolled my eyes and shifted in the small black seat.

"No. I was here first, and I don't want to move." I heard the girl groan and I looked past the man's massive frame to glare at her. She was really pretty, with short blonde hair and dark brown eyes. She was much smaller than her date, but I suppose that meant very little due to the fact that the man was a giant.

"Can't you just move down a couple of seats, it's really not that big of a deal." The girl glared at me.

"Why don't you just move down a couple of seats if it's not 'that big of a deal'?" I did some air quotes, acutely aware of the man that was staring holes into the side of my face.

"Hey, didn't your parents teach you to not be so disrespectful?" The girl moved up the stairs and began to make her way down the aisle in front of me. "Like, respect your elder or something."

"My parents taught me to set boundaries and say no to strangers." My eyes flickered to the man. He was just standing there like a stone statue. "Look, if you wanted the spot so badly, you should have gotten here first."

The girl's face twisted into a nasty snarl, and for a moment I felt like I had made a huge mistake.

"Listen here you little fucking brat_" the man, Gabriel, I think it was, suddenly whirled to life. He blinked a couple of times and looked at his girlfriend.

"Hey, she's just a kid, leave her alone." His voice changed, every so slightly, but it changed. There was a faint growl, almost like a warning.

"Ugh, just deal with her Gabe." The girl flicked some of her hair away from her face and turned on her heel to leave. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out." I snapped. The girl froze, and slowly turned around to glare at me.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?"

I promised my mom I would stay out of trouble, and here I was letting my big mouth get me into trouble. Where the hell was Emi, what was taking her so long; this wouldn't have happened if she was here. She would just say something nice and they would laugh and everything would be okay. I didn't mean to be so irritable, but I was beginning to feel dizzy and my breathing was becoming more shaky.

"Hey, you're the one arguing with a middle schooler. You should take a closer look at who you are." Gabriel scoffed and looked at his girlfriend. Her eyes were bulging out slightly and she looked like she wanted to kill me.

"Gabe." She hissed and he sighed.

"Hey look, sweetheart_" I don't know why him calling me sweetheart made me so… upset in that moment, but I snapped at him.

"Don't fucking call me that like I'm some five year old who just found out santa claus isn't real. It's fucking patronizing." I suddenly wanted to leave; I felt nauseous, dizzy. I got up from my chair and made my way across the aisle and down the stairs at the opposite end of the theater. "You know what, it's whatever, just take the seat."

I was just so focused on leaving the theater I almost ran into Emi. She hopped away from me at the last moment, some of the popcorn falling onto the floor when she did.

"I wanna leave." I whispered. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears, and my palms were sweaty.

"What?" Emi looked flustered and confused.

"I wanna leave right now." Something wasn't right, something wasn't right with me and I wasn't really sure what it was. I grabbed onto Emi's arm to steady myself, and Emi's head snapped towards the theater.

"Okay, let's go." She set the drink and popcorn by the trash and helped me through the small lobby and out into the parking lot. The wave of cool air felt nice, and I took a couple of deep breaths before hunching over and vomiting.

"Jesus Ellie!" Emi gathered up my hair and watched as I dry heaved for a few moments. There was hardly anything in my stomach, so I was mostly puking up acid. Emi rubbed my back, and from my peripherals I could see a couple of people staring at me.

'Shit' I felt tears forming in my eyes. I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my dress, and clung onto Emi for dear life.

"Come on Ellie, let's go." She walked me over to the car and ushered me in. I leaned my head on the cool window as Emi pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive down the road back to our house. "What happened in the theater?"

I shook my head. I didn't really feel like talking about it. I felt the guilt clawing at me; I looked down at my lap. I just couldn't help myself, could I? Picking fights, being spiteful; there was a reason I was always grounded.

"I just wanna go home and lie down." We drove in silence, and when we got home, I got out of the car and slowly made my way back into the house. I kicked off my shoes and didn't even bother to change out of my dress before flinging myself onto my bed and falling into a deep sleep.

*I will probably post chapter 3 ASAP so that I have a few chapters under my belt. I want to get this story rolling. Thanks for reading, and please comment!*